I saw the clip advising Mississippians to shower with closed mouths and build their water before they drink it. I could not help but ask. Are we really exceptional?
The exceptional country?
My Right-Wing brothers in college used to call me “import” or the guy from a banana Republic. By now, most are aware of the water problems in Jackson, Mississippi. They have an antiquated water purification plant, and their citizens are suffering the indignities of having to boil their water, if they even have any water.
While listening to the news, a clip gave me pause. The public official said the following.
“You can shower and bathe,” the public official said. “Please make sure in the shower that your mouth is not open because, again, you do not want to ingest the water.”
Are you kidding me? Is this not America? I have never had to boil water from the tap in Sabanitas, my little town in the province of Colon in the “banana republic” of Panama. Yet, in this exceptional country, the United States, the citizens of a major city of over 180 thousand people must boil their water.
I hope America is watching. This is what Right-Wing governments bring. From the grid failures in Texas to the lead-in-water in Flint to the water problems in Jackson, pain for the masses is the name of the game used to enrich the few, the Right-Wing politicians’ benefactors. Obscenely low taxes and draconian policies cause deteriorated infrastructure and failed social safety nets.